Drop wire



Sept. 16, 1952 T. E. WATSON 610,656

DROP WIRE Filed July 24, 1951 Iazveaaifor: Tm E. Waficon,

Patented Sept. 16, p 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,610,656' i 4 DROP WIRE v Thomas Watson, lewksbur y, Mass.

Application Ju1y124, 1951,,se1-1a1 No. 238,246

is Claims. (01. 139-353) The present invention relates to drop wires, and is a continuation in partofiny U. S. Patent "No. 2,566,471, granted September 4, 1951.

The conventional drop wire comprises abody usuallyformed of thin sheet metal having a cen- *tral slot or aperture forthe reception of the contact-bar or support bar of a'stop motion on which it is 'l'XlOllIlllEddIl various textile machines such as warpers and'looms. Each drop wirebymeans ,of its guide eye rides on the individual ends of warp in such machines andis supported thereby so long as its properyarn remains unbroken or of adequate 'tensionbut drops when such warp yarn breaks or slackens, the drop wire thereupon falling into electrical contact With'its contact or detector bar and closingan electric circuit in an electrical stop motion, or'blocks a moving part in a mechanical stop motion, which stops the machine, thus enabling the attendant to repair it promptly.

sary to add new drop wires to the contact bar when the number of ends isincreased ,or toremove the surplus drop wires from such bar'when thenumber of ends is decreased. I

A very substantial amount of time and labor is involved, and much machine time is 1os't,in

threading drop wires on or taking them off the contact bars on a warp which has already been drawn in, because the change-over usually requires the removal of a large number of the other drop wires present and wanted toberetained on the'bar. Other ways, likewise unsuitable, have consisted in cutting oil theexcess drop wires, which destroy them for all future use, or in insulating the unused drop wires fromthe contact bar by placing a piece of paper inside the aperture and over the bar, which is an unreliable makeshift.

To overcome the drawbacks of prior drop wires in the respect indicated, the present invention aims to provide a drop wire with apertured body adapted for use in standard warp motions which is'individually removable and replaceable withoutdisturbing other drop wires on th same bar. Thisjl'accomplish through providing a drop wire of the type of my aforesaid patent and enabling thebody thereof to be removed or replaced on the bar bya transverse movement relative to the bar, without having ;to cutsuch body, or to disturb the remaini g. drop-,wirespresent, thus per.-

mitting :drop wiresto be the wires presently on the detector bar, ,without in place. on the detector bar.

bythe sleeve. C a Fig. 3 is aasection-on linesi-sii-of:Fig.2.

,added'to, or taken from having to remove the bar itself and slide, the drop wires 'on or off endwise. 'To attainithese. ends 1:

provide a idropiwire body madeof wire orother suitable stock and havin an aperture which :fit around thedetector bar, with :the body split at the guide eye end of the aperture andtheiwo adjacent ends of the, split brought. in, close proximity and aguide eye whichlis mounted in a sleeve which fits over andcloses otheusplitrin the end Tor-the body after the latter hasgbeenput A further advantage of this separable feature is-ithat the sleeve connecting the removable guide eye can servelas aharrier 'tothe escapeofistatic .electricity generated, :as Iiswell' known, by pas sage of yarn particularlyl'of .-woolorofsynthetic originv through the .guide .eye; This electrica charge collected by the guides normally passes into the-frame of .the machine and "both limits the speeds at which the variousmachines canibe run, as is well known, and also istransmittedLto the operator's personwhen touching the machine causing the familiar shock-and discomfort: to the operator and in some instance leading .;.to Sea l-r'efusal of such operators to continuework on;ma,-

chines thus charged.

in connection with a drop wire isshow-n in the accompanying drawings, in which a s Fig. 1 is aifront elevation 'and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a dropwireshowing the eye con nected in detachable relation to the split body Fig. 4 is a front elevation of an alternative fo'rrn ofthe invention.

Fig. 5 is .a .iront elevation of still another form of the invention.

i In the form of the improved drop-wire shown in' Figs, 1 to :3; the body i is made otz other suitable resilient Lmetallic stock :normall y steel, though aluminum, magnesium, for other light metals are used-for fine counts gofyarn. or h wi er liehtnes yis tone dfi irfid-x- 3 shoulder which engages the central electrode of the contact bar and serves to tilt the drop wire when it falls, so that the sides of the aperture 3 make good electrical contact with the outside element of the contact bar. The two legs converge at the split end of the loop, and the extremities 6 of the U-shaped body l are brought into parallel relation and to stand in contact or close proximity with each other, by a bend formed at the upper end of cam surface 5.

The meeting ends 6 of the legs of the closed loop thus forming drop wire body I are removably combined with a guide eye 9 by means of a connector in the form of a tubular sleeve I in one end of which the guide eye 9 is permanently fixed, and in the other end of which the ends 6 of the legs are removably held by firm frictional engagement with the interior of such sleeve. To facilitate the use of stock tubing of circular section for the making of the sleeve I, the coengaging surfaces of the ends 6 are mutually flattened as shown in Fig. 3 into half-round shape so that they will fit and frictionally engage the interior surface of the tube throughout substantially its entire internal circumference and securely hold this split end of the loop of wire forming the body I in operatively fixed but quickly detachable relation with the eye 9 while in use. Alternatively, half-round wire stock is used to make the body I, with the fiat side inward, when desired and available.

. The guide eye 9 is formed of metal having a hard chrome plate, or of boro-silicate in accordance with my above-named prior patent, or of other suitable material, and is made of circular section stock bent into typical pigtail shape comprising slightly more than one turn of an open helix, with one extremity II of the rod extending upward beyond and in tangential relationto the helix while the other extremity I3 is bent to as- .sume substantially radial relation to the helix, and likewise extending out beyond the helix, so that the center of support of the drop wire by the yarn l passing through the aperture I of the .eye will be directly over the body I and in the plane of the latter. The eye or pigtail 9 is secured within the upper portion of the sleeve I by inserting the radial extremity I3 thereinto and cementing with cellulose acetate or other suitable cementing medium.

This construction enables the guide eye 9 to be easily and completely insulated electrically from the body of the drop wire and thus from the frame of'the machine by the simple resort of forming the sleeve I out of suitable material of high dielectric value, such as polystyrene and other well known materials of eflicient insulatin characteristics chiefly found in the field of synthetic materials. Thus any charge of static e ectricity picked up by the eye 9 incidental to the travel of the yarn I0 therethrough is prevented or impeded from passage to the body I of the drop wire and thence to the warp stop motion and the frame of the machine. It will be noted that the opposed extremities I3, 6, of the eye 9 and the body I are spaced far enough apart within the connecting sleeve I to leave an air-gap of ample resistance to restrain passage of a charge of static electricity from eye 9 to body I. If it is desired to shorten the sleeve I and thus aid in reducing the overall length of the drop wire, the passage through the sleeve 1 between the opposing ends of the shank I3 of the eye and the ends 6 of the body will be closed by interposing the material forming the sleeve and having a dielectric strength greater than air, 1. e., the sleeve will take the form of a rod having sockets in its extremities for the reception of the parts 6 and I3.

In addition to avoiding shock to the machine tender, this acts to prevent the cross-members of the warper from becoming charged with static and attracting the yarns passing above them, which causes them to flutter up and down over the cross-members with resulting end breakage. By the simple and novel means of electrically insulating the guides from the body in conjunction with the insulating of other metallic parts engaging the running yarns such as the combs and measuring roll, the frame of the machine is kept free of charges of static electricity.

In increasing or decreasing the number of yarns being run, the drop wire is placed on the detector bar in the desired location by spreading apart themeeting ends 6 of the wire body, sliding the body up around the contact or support bar from below, and then fitting the sleeve I connected to the guide eye 9 over the two ends 6 thus closing the split end of the aperture 3 after it has been put in place on the bar. The yarn is threaded through the passage I5 of the eye in the conventional manner by lateral movement of the yarn. Since both the eye and body are removable in this manner they can easily be detached individually from the contact bar for removal or replaced without disturbing the adjacent drop wires on the bar. As many hundreds of these drop wires are used on each loom or warp ing machine this constitutes an important time and labor saving improvement. 1

In the form of Fig. 4 only one leg of the body I9 enters and is held frictionally and removably in the sleeve 2| in which the guide eye 23 is fixed by cementing as hereinabove. The otherleg of the body is bent inward at 25 to provide the usual oblique shoulder tilting the fallen drop wire on its contact bar, while the extremity 21 of this shortleg is merely brought into proximity with the side of the other leg near the body of sleeve 2|. In installing this drop wire alongside or between other drop wires on the contact bar, the sleeve with its eye is removed from the long leg of body I9, the gap between the end 21 of the short leg and the side of the long leg is opened slightly by spreading the legs, and the body is slid up to surround the contact bar, whereupon the sleeve and guide eye are fixed firmly on the end of the long leg. The V-shaped opening between the end 2! and the side of the adjacent leg facilitates the entry of the contact bar. In removing the drop wire, in both this and in the form of Fig. 1, after the sleeve has been pulled off it requires merely a downward pull on the body to remove it from the contact bar.

The form of Fig. 5 shows the application of the invention principle to the type of drop wire illustrated in the aforesaid patent and comprising a body 25 punched out of thin fiat sheet metal stock frictionally held in the lower part of a metallic tube 21 initially of round section in the upper end of which the guide eye 29 is fixed by cement 3|. The lower portion of sleeve 21 is flattened to conform to the width and thickness of the tapered upper end of body 25 so that the latter will fit frictionally and be held therein in operative relation but with capacity for removal when the parts are pulled apart. In accordance with the invention, the aperture 28 which receives the contact bar is split open at the top by the formation of a slit 29 whose upper end is broadened into a V at 3| facilitating entry of the contact bar thereinto by a wedging action as the body, with sleeve 2! removed, is pushed upward against the lower edge of such bar, upward movement being continued until the bar enters the aperture 28. Thereupon the sleeve 27 is wedged onto the upper end of the body, and the drop wire threaded up. Removal is effected as hereinbefore by pulling down the body after detaching sleeve 21 therefrom.

While I have illustrated and described certain forms in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular forms shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. A drop wire having in combination an apertured body, a guide eye, and an electrically nonconducting connector uniting the two parts.

2. A drop wire having in combination an apertured metallic body, a guide eye, and a connector of electrically non-conducting material between and uniting the two parts.

3. A drop wire having in combination a body,

an eye and dielectric means connecting the two.

4. A drop wire having in combination a metallic body, a guide eye, and an electrically nonconducting sleeve connecting the body with the guide eye.

5. A drop wire comprising in combination a metallic loop having the extremities of its legs adjacent to each other, a sleeve member having one of its end portions widened to receive and retain in quickly detachable relation the ends of the legs, and a guide eye fixed in the other end of the sleeve member.

6. A drop wire having in combination an apertured body open at one end, a guide eye, and dielectric means connecting the eye to the body.

'7. A drop wire having in combination an apertured body open at one end, a guide eye, and a connector made wholly of dielectric material engaging the open end of the body and the guide eye and detachably uniting the latter to the body.

'8. A drop wire having in combination a U- shaped member having an oblique cam surface adjacent the mouth of the U, a guide eye, and

a connector made wholly of dielectric materialv embracing the ends of both legs of the U and the guide eye and uniting the latter frictionally to the member.

9. A drop wire having in combination an apertured body open at one end, a guide eye made wholly of synthetic non-metallic material and a connector of dielectric material embracing the open end of the body and a portion of the guide eye and uniting the latter frictionally and in quickly detachable relation to the body.

10. A drop wire having in combination a U- shaped member, a guide eye, and a sleeve detachably connecting the open end of the U with the guide eye. I

11. A drop wire having in combination a metallic loop having converging extremities, a member receiving and detachably holding such extremities of the loop in one of its ends, and a guide eye fixed in the other end of the member.

12. A drop wire having in combination a metallic loop having its extremities adjacent to each other, a sleeve member receiving such extremities in one end of the sleeve member, and a guide eye fixed in the other end of the sleeve member.

13. A drop wire having an apertured body capable of being opened at one end, a guide eye, and a connector detachably connecting the guide eye to the body and closing the open end.

14. A drop wire having in combination, a U- shaped body formed of rounded Wire having fiattened extremities, a non-conducting sleeve fitting slidably around such extremities, and a guide eye fixed in the other end of the sleeve.

15. A drop wire having in combination, a sheet metal body having an aperture and a slit extending from the latter through one end of the body, a sleeve fitting frictionally and detachably on such end and holding the slit closed, and a guide eye fixed on the sleeve.

16. A drop wire having in combination a U- shaped body of which one leg is longer than the other, a guide eye, and a connector uniting the guide eye to the body, the shorter leg of the body having its end bent inward toward the other leg adjacent the connector to define with such other leg a subsantially closed loop.

THOMAS E. WATSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,714,126 Cooker May 21, 1929 1,930,151 Smith Oct. 10, 1933 1,964,356 Howe June 26, 1934 2,452,004 Weddington Oct. 19,1948 

